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Hearing Wood.
Hearing Wood
The forest had been there since before the arrival of the settlers of our town, Illaipren.
My uncle have always scolded me for entering the forest. And I’ve always go when I have the free time to spare. There is a single dirt road that goes into the forest, makes a couple of curves but never really goes deep. I follow the river that is close to the road up to a very rocky, but beautiful path. When I’m in the forest I feel completely relieved, and in peace. But today seems rather off. It’s like a “presence” calling me to go to it. I’ve never been further than the big pine trees that stand like a wall in the first third of the forest, but today I do, following that strange call. I finally stand before a giant oak. It’s astonishing to see an oak this big.
-I was waiting for you, Isa. –Said a deep voice that sounded in my head.
The oak was talking.
-What the fuck?!
-Oh please, don’t be frightened by this event, you been hearing my voice for quite a while now.
-I always thought they were dreams. –I reply, still trying to process the situation occurring right in front of me. –How is this possible?
–I guess you could call me the ancient spirit of the forest, but that would be putting me in a very low class. I am more than a spirit, I am the living force that flows through every living thing in this area. I choose to consolidate in this form, the first thing to live in this forest.
Turns out there is a mysterious power that is found in every living being in the world. It is not that different from the normal senses. However, most people do not notice it. This force allows to perceive the presences of others, predict the movement of things, and empathize with emotions and nature of living things. The oak told me I am a physical embodiment of this power.
–Are you going to teach me how to use this “sense”? –I asked.
. –No, you already know how, WE, are just going to polish it, you can’t just hear the voices of life, you can call it by their name and control it. –He replied.
The process lasted about 3 months. After that I was able to tell when those around me were angry or happy, whether they were strong or weak of will. I could hear the “voice” of all things.
When I found out that the oak was chopped down I burst into tears. The “voice” became an annoying thing to me, it was a horrible reminder of my late friend. The most horrible part, was that it wasn’t just him, the entire forest was being wiped out by something, or someone.
Then I felt it, a dark, horrible presence. A pure manifestation of evil. All I could feel from it was cold and decay.
–What do you want? –I asked it.
–It’s not of what I want, but what I do. I represent the aging and death process. Everything that meets me, rots and falls apart. Will, freedom, beasts, plants, the moon and stars and sun, all of it is meaningless.
There was sadness in his voice, I know that he doesn’t want to do it. I can hear his “voice”, I can understand him, but I can’t let him destroy it all. Is he alive? If he is, then he must live, all living things have that right. But if he lives, others will die.
–What about yourself? –A shade of confusion arouses in it. –Are you immune to your own purpose? Can you not change your “destiny”?
–Impossible.
–It’s not impossible. As you are alive, you can choose, you have a voice. Stopping yourself because of a “decided” destiny is a completely stupidity. One can’t control the flow of life, every decision that one makes opens a different path, a different flow, there’s no such thing as destiny.
–Can you hear it now? It is your own voice, calling, wanting to be heard. Can you hear what it is saying? It is saying: Advance, without stops, for we are one, you and me, we are alive, and we can live. –We said in unison voice.
